the world just saw benedict xvi on that balcony window for the last time. what's the mood been there to y today? >> reporter: i think a lot of gratitude and also sadness to see him retire. but peoplens why he wants to retire. he's 85. he told the crowd that he's not going to abandon the church, alex. he said that in instead god has asked him to lave life of more prayer and meditation, and he says that's more appropriate for someone of his age and his strengths. >> yeah. you know, not to besmirch all this, but there were some reports circulating in some italian papers about blackmail being a reason why the pope was stepping down. how does the vatican address that? >> the vatican has come back very strongly against those reports, alex. they were in a paper called la republica this past week. and the vatican took the unusual step yesterday, the vatican secretary of state, of calling -- of issuing a statement calling the situation beplorable, accusing the news media of running false reports to try to influence the election of the next pope. and, in fact, the se